A lot has been written about the brutal tragedy of Lara Logan, a war reporter in Egypt. My one observation is that the defense and even justification (this happens in America too! she shouldn't have been flashing her body!) of her gruesome sexual attack has allowed for any remarks about...

After reviewing a book in which an author mentioned "that goyish holiday" Thanksgiving and then noting that one of my Jewish friends in New York was not celebrating, I took an informal poll.
 I was told by many Jewish friends that they did indeed consider the holiday "goyish"....

I have to ask, where were the first lady's cultural sensitivity coaches when she recently extended her hand down the line of Indonesian dignitaries? As a mere plebe, I learned to bow in Japan because it was the custom. While teaching in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and studying in Tsafat, Israel I...

I am at Amma's ashram, the next place on my spiritual circuit tour of India, the last ashram within the last 5 months. After 11 days of fighting and, er, making up with my Keralan boyfriend, we decided to take a break. I went to the best place I could...

My semi-flirtatious but perhaps brahamachari (celibate) yoga teacher (the lack of which is an impossibility in India's romantic culture) told me that Indian women consider themselves quite young until age 40 -- and that 35 is a very good age to marry. It's not necessarily true but very good news...

In New York City I often forget I am a feminist, but in India, I noticed there's a woman problem. Since arriving in India one month ago, I have made many realizations and observations on the role of women. My first observations were that, just as my experience at an...

A few years ago at a restaurant, an unknown man interrupted the self-help author Karen Salmansohn's conversation about yet another bad boyfriend. "Excuse me," he began, "the man you're with sounds emotionally abusive, like a classic control freak with sadistic tendencies, and you are a masochist since you are choosing...